Analysis of Ch 01 Manner of Kings Story 40
A Chinese slave-girl having been brought to a king, he desired to have connection with her whilst in a state of intoxication but, as she repelled him, he became angry and presented her to one of his negro-slaves whose upper lip was higher than his nostrils whilst the lower one hung down to his neck. His stature was such that the demon Sakhrah would have been put to flight and a fountain of pitch emitted stench from his armpits.
Thou wouldst say that, till the resurrection, ugliness
Is his stamp as that of Joseph was beauty.
His person was of so wretched an aspect
That his ugliness surpassed all description
And from his armpits we take refuge with Allah,
They were like a corpse in the month of Merdad.
At that time the desire of the negro was libidinous, his lust overcame him, his love leapt up and he took off the seal of her virginity. In the morning the king sought the girl but could not find her and, having obtained information of what had taken place, he became angry, ordered the negro and the girl to be firmly tied together by their hands and feet and to be thrown from the lofty building into a ditch. One of the veziers, placing the face of intercession upon the ground, pleaded that there was no guilt in the negro since all the servants of his majesty usually receive presents and benefits as he had received the girl. The king rejoined: "What would it have mattered if he had for one night delayed his enjoyment?" He said: "My lord, hast thou not heard that it was said:
When a man with a burning thirst reaches a limpid spring,
Think not that he will care for a mad elephant.
When a hungry infidel is in an empty house at table
Reason will not believe that he cares for the Ramazan."
The king, being pleased with this sally, exclaimed: "I make thee a present of the negro. What am I to do with the girl?" He replied: "Give the girl to the negro because that half is also due to a dog of which he has consumed the other half."
The thirsty heart does not wish for limpid water
Half of which was consumed by a fetid mouth.
How can the king’s hand again touch
An orange after it has fallen into dung?
Scheme | X XAXBXA X XXXB X XXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 001111011101101011010101001100101110111011000100111110111011101110101011111111011101011111110010110101111 111110010100 11111110110 1101111011 11100011010 01111110110 1010100111 1110010101011111011111101110110010000100110111110010010101111011011010010001111010101110101111010100101110110011010010110111110010110101110010000110010011101010101111110111111011010111111111111 1011010110011 111111101100 101010101101110 101101111101 011011110011110101010111111011011011010011111011011111010101 01011111110 11110110101 11011011 110101110011 |
Characters | 2,355 |
Words | 406 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 1, 4, 1, 4 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 98 |
Words per line (avg) | 24 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 279 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:00 min read
- 92 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Ch 01 Manner of Kings Story 40" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33807/ch-01-manner-of-kings-story-40>.
Discuss this Sa di poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In